A week after the Mumbai Police chargesheeted actor Sooraj Pancholi for allegedly abetting suicide of his girlfriend Jiah Khan, her mother is set to move the Bombay high court seeking direction to police to consider the material given by her which indicated she was murdered.
Rabiya Khan is
not satisfied with the probe and would seek the help of the HC in order to get the case investigated afresh by a special investigation team or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from the angle of possible murder.

The mother of British-American actor Jiah Khan, who was found dead at her Juhu home on June 3 last year, has also approached the US authorities, requesting them for assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), since her daughter was an American citizen.

She said she had written to US ambassador to India Nancy Powell seeking FBI assistance in the probe.

According to a communication from the US authorities on behalf of the ambassador, the FBI is prepared to lend a helping hand in the probe provided India agreed.

"We have reached out to the office of the US legal attache at the US Embassy in New Delhi. An FBI official in that office is willing to send a letter to the Indian Police Services to offer US technical and forensic assistance in the investigation of Nafisa's death.

"While FBI cannot conduct unilateral investigations outside the United States, it can review your daughter's case in an advisory role if requested by Indian law enforcement," the letter said.

"We have no confidence in Mumbai police as it has ignored forensic evidence given to them to show that Jiah was killed and had not committed suicide. Their reports are inconclusive and tailor-made to benefit the accused," Rabiya told a press conference.

Jiah Khan was 25 at the time of her death and had earned fame for acting in films such as Nishabd. The 447-page chargesheet was filed by the police before the Andheri magistrate court.

After Jiah's death, her mother had handed over a six-page letter reportedly written by Jiah before her death. The letter showed the tumultuous nature of relationship between Jiah and her boyfriend Sooraj, son of actor Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab.

"There was no evidence to show that Jiah was killed. We have gone into the material given by her mother but have not found any evidence to support the theory that it was a case of murder," a top police officer said.

While the police have been treating the death as a case of suicide, the actor's mother has all along insisted that she was murdered.

In support of her claim that Jiah was murdered, Rabiya said human tissues found in her nails indicated struggle before death. However, police have said the tissues were Jiah's own, while ruling out murder.

Rabiya said, "We will be contesting the charges mentioned in the chargesheet as I believe my daughter has been murdered and it is not a case of suicide."